Geocaching and God's Will

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Have you ever gone geocaching? It's a treasure hunt using a gps. People hide an item, then enter its location into a website using gps coordinates. Other people search for it.

Determining God's will for our lives can feel a little like geocaching, like we're going on a treasure hunt. The hard part is, sometimes the coordinates aren't so clear and we're not sure how to find it.

I have wished that God would speak to me like He spoke to Moses or David or Job. I have also wished that he would write it in the sky or on a billboard or send someone to tell me clearly what I am to do. However God doesn't usually use these ways of communicating with us. Yet, God does want us to know His will and does make a way for us to do so.

How do we find the gps coordinates for God's will for our circumstances?

1. Genuine Desire - Cultivate a genuine desire to know what God wants us to do and a willingness to obey Him when we know. Part of the process of cultivation is to come to a place where we have surrendered our own will and desires and we only want what God wants.

2. Study the Bible - As we search for God's will, a good place to begin is searching Scripture. The Bible reveals right and wrong, truth and lies, God's character, and man's character. As we come to understand these things, they serve as a filter. When we are faced with a difficult decision, we can ask which options are most closely aligned with what God has revealed He desires of us.

3. Pray - Prayer is a conversation with God in which we talk to Him and also listen for His response. What do we listen for? Thoughts He sends to our minds, a prompting of the Holy Spirit through words from the Bible, advice from people I trust that rings true, desires of the heart that surface. In that quiet place of prayer, what is God saying to you?

4. Wise Counsel - While the first people that come to mind might be a pastor or spiritual director, others may have much to offer as well. Skilled professionals may be able to offer advice based on their training and experience. Friends who have learned lessons in the School of Hard Knocks and have gained wisdom from their experiences may also offer wise counsel. Counsel from those who share a love for God is helpful, for they are more likely to understand the underlying desire in our search for an answer. However that does not prohibit God from using the expertise of non-believers to also direct us.

5. Desires, Dreams, Abilities and Gifts - God has created each of us uniquely with desires, dreams, abilities, and gifts. As we search for God's will, we want to pay attention to those longings and capabilities. God can use those to direct our path as well.

6. Consolation and Desolation - Consolation and Desolation are terms used by the spiritual fathers and mothers of Christianity. Consolation is an inner sense of life, peace, and rightness, of God's favor. Desolation is an inner sense of death, unease, that something is not right, that God's favor is not in this. One way to get a handle on these is to make a decision and sit with it. Pay attention to how you feel. Do you have a sense of consolation in your soul after you have made this decision? Do you have a sense of desolation? This is a powerful way that our souls communicate to us.

7. Circumstances - One of the most exciting aspects of finding God's will is seeing circumstances work together in an inexplicable way. We've prayed, we've listened, we've sought counsel, we're aware of what our soul is hearing from God, but nothing happens and we're waiting. Waiting. Then suddenly, circumstances start to come together in a way that goes beyond coincidence or human contriving and we know that God's hand is clearing the path He wants us to walk. And there is confidence that this is the path God has for us.

When have you known you had discovered God's will for you?

What confirmed to you or helped you know this was His will?

How Do I Understand the Bible? - Thematic

This is our final approach to digging deeper into the Bible. I have shared with you some of my favorite ways to study the Bible, approaches that I have found helpful over the years.

I would love to hear your stories of different Bible study methods you have tried and your experience with them.

So our final method is called the Thematic Study and revolves around following a theme through the Bible or a portion of the Bible. (If the theme is broad, you might want to limit your study to book or section of the Bible.)

The flow of the Thematic Study:

Begin with Prayer. Pause and ask God to teach you through His Spirit and to show you new insights and ways in which this theme applies to your life.

Choose a theme.

Find references in a concordance that deal with your theme.

Read the verses. You may need to read the surrounding verses to gain context and understanding.

To go deeper try comparing translations and define the theme word. (Bible Gateway makes it easy to compare the verses in a variety of translations.)

As you read, jot down answers to the following questions:

• What do you observe in the verse/passage? What do you learn about the theme?
• What questions are raised? What answers are found?
• When you've read the passages and taken notes, review what you've written.
• What patterns do you notice? What principles do you observe?
• Summarize what you have learned from this study

Suggested themes:
knowing God's will
obedience
praising the Lord in the psalms
Jesus' prayers
Paul's prayers
heavenlies in the book of Ephesians

Thank you for joining in this look at ways to understand the Bible better. 

Take a minute to share a comment about ways of reading or studying the Bible that have helped you. 

How Do I Understand the Bible? - Recreate a Journal

A fun follow-up to the Biographical study is to create a journal entry for the person you studied. It can also stand alone as a way to become more familiar with a Bible character or a particular event in their life.

As always, begin this study with prayer asking the Holy Spirit to give you insight and understanding.

Choose the person or event about which you would like to write a journal entry.

Using your concordance, find the verses where this person or event is recorded in the Bible.

Read the verses.

As you read, take note:

• Carefully observe the text
• Consider the background
• Ask what the person might have thought or felt
• Put yourself in that person's shoes
• Consider looking at it from a different perspective (e.g. in the march around Jericho you could write from the perspective of an Israelite soldier or priest, a resident of Jericho, Rahab, or an Israelite woman or child who stayed in camp or even an inanimate object such as a horn or stone in the wall) Don't be afraid to think outside the box and be creative. 

Write a journal entry from the perspective you have chosen. 

Suggested stories:

• Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3)
• Ruth leaving Moab (Ruth 1)
• Rahab after hiding the spies (Joshua 2)
• A person of Jericho as the Israelites march around the walls (Joshua 6)
• A Philistine describing Goliath's death (1 Samuel 17)
• Mary Magdalene's encounter with Jesus in the garden (John 20:1-18

If you would like to see an example of this study, visit "I Met a Man" - a journal entry I wrote from the point of view of the woman with an issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus' robe. 

What Bible character intrigues you the most? What about him or her captures your attention?

How Do I Understand the Bible? - The People of the Bible

I have a confession to make, this is my favorite way to dig more deeply into the Bible. I love looking at the people of the Bible trying to understand what it might have felt like to be in their sandals, to think about what their world was like. When I use this style of study, I find that the characters become so much more real to me and I learn from the rich experiences of their lives.

A Biographical Study is looking specifically at the life of one person from the Bible in an attempt to understand who they were and the experiences that shaped them.

1. Choose a person. It is best to pick someone who is not mentioned in multiple chapters or multiple books. If your curiosity about one of the "big" Bible names (Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul, etc.) draws you into studying one of them, another way to do so is to study their life one period as a time. (e.g. Moses - Moses' in Egypt before Age 40; Moses in the Dessert; Moses' Return to Egypt and Leading the Exodus; Moses and the 10 Commandments; Moses Preparing to Enter the Promised Land; Moses Leading the Israelites through the Wilderness for 40 Years; The End of Moses' Life - each of these periods of his life provide a rich and powerful study.) Also, watch out for duplicate names such as Joseph (son of Jacob and Jesus' stepfather) or Mary (Mary mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Mary mother of John Mark). You'll want to make sure that the references you are using all pertain to the same person.

2. List all references. Using a concordance list all the references that pertain to the person or the specific period of their life that you plan to study.

3. Pray asking the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you, to show you insights and truths from this study.

4. Read the references about this person. As you read look for clues to the following items. Write down your observations.

• Character development
• Crises faced
• Motivations
• Reactions to life's events
• Environment (location, culture, family)
• Significant relationships
• Spiritual life
• If OT, NT references
• Unusual birth or death

5. Summarize your observations and the lessons you learned. A helpful question to ponder as you do this is: Why did God put this person in the Bible and what can you learn from him or her?

Suggested people to study: Cornelius, Hannah, Dorcus/Tabitha, Caleb, Ruth, Daniel, Esther

What people from the Bible have especially impacted you? 

What about their life impressed you?

How Do I Understand the Bible? - Outline

I don't know about you, but I like variety to keep things fresh and, yes, even meaningful. I'd rather walk outside than on a treadmill, drive an interesting route rather than the fastest one, do something different sometimes just to shake things up. And, I'm the same with studying the Bible. I've been reading and studying the Bible for a long time now and at times it can get (dare I say it?) boring unless I change things up sometimes. That's why I'm suggesting an assortment of Bible study methods, so that whether brand new to the Bible or a long-timer who's gotten a little bored, you'll have some different ideas to choose from.

Most of these ways of studying the Bible are quite simple, yet each of them then deepen your knowledge, understanding, and experience with Scripture.

Today's is Outline.

When I was in sixth grade, my teacher required that we outline our history book for homework and two things happened. First, I discovered that after I had outlined a chapter I could ace the test with almost no additional study. (Loved that one!!) Second, I was drawn to the logical progression and understanding that comes with reducing something to outline form. I am beginning with the assumption that you know how to do a basic outline. (If that's not true for you, feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to explain how it works.)

When outlining the Bible, it is best to outline either a chapter paragraph by paragraph or a book chapter by chapter.

To begin this study, choose a chapter or book (preferably a short one to begin with) that you would like to understand more fully.

Pray. As I've said in the previous Bible Study posts, prayer to ask the the Holy Spirit to guide and teach you is always a crucial part of the process.

Read through the chapter or book for a sense of flow and how it fits together. At this time don't try to outline, just read it carefully to get the big picture of what's being said.

Read it again with an eye to outlining. If you're working through a chapter, give each paragraph a summary title as the main points of your outline. You may want to include key points from the paragraph as your sub-points. If you are outlining a book, give each chapter a summary title and then use your paragraphs as your sub-points.

Outlining is helpful for getting the big picture of the content and structure of a chapter or book.

If you'd like to take this study a Next Step, combine it with Observe and Question to help bring deeper understanding and to apply it to your life.

Suggested chapters:

Psalm 1
Psalm 23
Psalm 46
Matthew 5,6, or 7
Philippians 4

Suggested books:
Nehemiah
Jonah
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
James

What is your favorite way to study the Bible? 

What has helped you to keep your Bible study fresh and interesting?

How Do I Understand the Bible? - Observe and Question

Studying the Bible doesn't have to be big and scary.

Although the Bible is a BIG book, filled with lots of names and places that are unfamiliar, with some stretches that are not so interesting, it is also full of stories of valiant warriors, tender poets, miracles, and very fallible human beings. Many of the stories have rightfully been made into epic movies since they are stories of epic proportions.

The Bible is a wonderful blend of excitement, mystery, and truths that challenge our thinking and our reality. So how do we begin to understand what this big book says.

One way is to Read - Observe - Question. What does that look like?

Pray. Any time that we study the Bible, we want to invite the Holy Spirit aka the Spirit of Truth to help us understand what we are reading. (John 14:16,17, and 26)

Choose a Selection from the Bible to Read. The amount of time you want to spend and the depth of the study you want to undertake will largely determine the length of your selection. The length could vary between a few verses to an entire book. If you're looking for inspiration and encouragement, the Psalms would be a good place to begin. If you're looking for biblical teachings, the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) or Epistles (Romans through Jude) would be good. If you're looking for the history of the world, the Jewish nation, or Christianity then Genesis, Exodus through Esther, or Acts would be helpful. Old Testament prophetic books are Isaiah through Malachi and in the New Testament Revelation is the primary prophetic book.

Read a Passage of the Bible. Read the passage you have chosen all the way through once without stopping. Pause.

Write down your initial response, observations, and questions.

Read it again slowly and thoughtfully.

Write: What else do you observe? What other questions arise? Do any answers surface?

Using your Bible Study Tools such as cross references, a study Bible, commentaries, and a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia search for answers to your questions. Bible Gateway is a website that offers several free resources as well as links to those for purchase.

Record your exploration, what you have learned, and your conclusions.

Apply. Ask yourself how this study has impacted your life and how it makes a difference in your day to day interactions with God and with other people.

If you try this type of study, I invite you to talk about your experience 

or what you have learned here in this online community. 

NOTE: I do not receive any type of reimbursement or benefits from any endorsements made in this post. 

How Do I Understand the Bible? - SCPTP

While we are often told that reading and studying the Bible are important, many are not sure where to begin or how to study the Bible. A simple way to learn more about the Bible is to read a few verses or even one verse at a time asking five questions. If you're new to reading or studying the Bible, this type of study creates a great foundation for deeper study at a later time.

How do you go about this study?

Choose a passage to read. This study works best when reading a single verse or paragraph in the Bible. Over time you can read a variety of short passages or you can choose to read through a book a paragraph at a time. This study works particularly well with the Gospels (Matthew through John) or the Epistles (Romans through Jude) in the New Testament. You may want to begin with a shorter book such as Philippians, Colossians, or 1 John.

Pray. Ask God to guide you through the Holy Spirit into a deeper understanding of His message to you through the Bible.

Read and Record. Read your chosen passage for the day. In a journal or on an electronic device jot down the date, reference of the passage you read, and then the answers to the following questions:

Is there a . . .

Sin to confess?
Command to obey?
Promise to claim?
Truth to understand and believe?
Prayer to pray?

Sin to Confess - Does the Bible address a particular sin, something that God says is not what He desires for us? If so, jot that down. To apply this question to your own life, ask yourself if this is a sin that you have given into. If so, God tells us to confess our sin and He will forgive us. (1 John 1:9)

Command to Obey - Is there something that God wants us to do? What is that? Record the answer in your journal. Think about how you can begin to do this thing God is asking of you.

Promise to Claim - Does God make a promise to you in this verse? Write down what the promise is. How can claiming that promise help you in your current circumstances?

Truth to Understand and Believe - What truth is captured in this verse or paragraph? Why is it important? What difference does it make in your life?

Prayer to Pray - Is there a prayer given? What does it say? What does it help you understand about how to pray? Are you willing to pray this prayer to God?

Let's do an example together:

We'll try a verse that is familiar to many, Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

Is there a sin to confess? Not specifically.

Is there a command to obey? Yes, more than one: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" and "In all your ways acknowledge him". And, we are told not to lean on our own understanding (our own intellect, reasoning, or logic). How can I do this? Currently I am in the midst of working with my family to make some serious decisions. In those decisions I need to choose to trust God and to acknowledge His ability to guide us.

Is there a promise to claim? Absolutely, "he will make straight your paths." I can have assurance that as I trust God and acknowledge Him in these decisions that He will guide us and he will show us clearly the right thing to do.

Is there a truth to understand and believe? Nothing beyond those we've already identified.

Is there a prayer to pray? Not specifically, however praying Scripture and asking for God's help to trust and acknowledge Him, to avoid leaning on our own understanding, and claiming His promise to us, is appropriate and can make our prayer times more meaningful.

Have you ever tried studying the Bible this way? Was it helpful? 

What has helped you to study the Bible?

How do I Understand the Bible? - The Necessary Tools

 

How do I understand the Bible? It's so thick with unfamiliar words and confusing stories and teaching. I don't even know where to begin. As a teacher and coach, I have heard this question asked many times. And, it's an important one.

God gave us the Bible so that we could understand Him better and it is the sacred Scriptures of the Christian faith. Therefore, reading and studying it will help us in our relationship with God and in growing in our faith.

Over the next few weeks I want to share with you ways of studying the Bible that will help you increase your knowledge of its contents, your understanding of what it means, and how to apply it to your own life and situation.

A skilled craftsman knows the importance of having the right tools for the job - be it a woodworker, an electrician, a chef, a diver, a teacher, a writer, a glassblower, a surgeon, or an artist. The right tools make it much easier to produce a great work and in some cases, such as a diver or electrician, it may be a matter of life or death. So, if you want to know how to understand the Bible better, what tools do you need?

Studying the Bible does not have to be complicated or involve a great many books or tools, although as you delve more and more deeply into the Bible there may be books, software, or apps that you would like to purchase. However, to begin the list is rather short:

1. A Bible. A study Bible that contains a summary of each book (giving its history, author, and an overview of its contents), maps, charts, and a concordance (a list of where particular words are found) is especially helpful. My favorites are The Life Application Bible, The Quest Study Bible, and the NIV Study Bible. I have found each of these to have comprehensive and helpful tools.

2. A journal, notebook, computer, or tablet where you can track what you are learning.

3. Prayer and the Holy Spirit. Some passages of the Bible and some people described in the Bible are difficult to understand. Therefore, it is important that you seek the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you in your study and to reveal truth to you and to help you avoid misinterpreting the Scripture.

These three things are sufficient to help anyone get started toward a basic understanding of the Bible, what it says, and what it means.

Perhaps you are interested in going deeper in your study. Perhaps you are puzzled by various things and want deeper answers or maybe you would like to help someone else understand the Bible better and you want to understand the Bible more completely yourself first. The following tools are helpful for those who want to go deeper. I have listed them in the order I would recommend attaining them.

4. A Concordance. While today many Study Bibles have extensive concordances, most do not have an Exhaustive Concordance. An Exhaustive Concordance lists every word in the Bible and all the verses where it can be found. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is one of the most famous concordances and is very helpful. Some websites such as Bible Gateway can also function as a concordance by allowing you to enter a key word into their site and it will list all the verses where that word is found. Bible Gateway also has a number of other very helpful resources including the option to view a verse or passage in multiple translations of the Bible.

5. A Commentary of the Whole Bible. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible is readily available in both book and online formats and is well-known and widely respected. As your study grows you may want to invest in commentaries on specific books of the Bible or sections of the Bible. Also, many Study Bibles contain commentary at the bottom of the pages. A commentary explains the meaning and background of the verses in the Bible.

6. A Bible Dictionary. This is a dictionary that focuses specifically on biblical and theological terms that may be unfamiliar. My personal favorite is the Zondervan Expository Dictionary of Bible Words by Larry Richards. I have found this to be both comprehensive and easy to understand.

7. A Bible Encyclopedia or Handbook. I personally have found an encyclopedia more helpful than a handbook, however both can help you to understand the cultural context and history of biblical events.

8. Bible Study Books. Many good Bible study books have been written in a topical, systematic theology, or book study format. These books are useful in guiding you through a particular study, usually asking you to read a portion of Scripture, providing an explanation of or thoughts on the passage, and questions to help you think more deeply about it. Fisherman Bible Study Guides provide a plethora of choices for both topical and book studies. The Navigators also have many excellent Bible study guides available.

What have you found to be challenging about studying the Bible?
What resources have you found that have helped you?

Meditation

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Tonight I am thinking about meditation, specifically meditation on Scripture, as I approach the rhythms that create a space to draw closer to God. 

Many years ago I was challenged by Tim Hansel's book You Gotta Keep Dancin'. Tim tells his story of climbing a glacier, falling in a crevice, crushing several vertebrae in his back, miraculously hiking out, and subsequently living with intense, irreversible, chronic pain. He shares that he chose a verse of the Bible on which he would meditate - think about - until he found the music behind the words.

As a young woman, I decided to give this a try and found it to be very rewarding. I would pick a single verse that seemed to be particularly appropriate to something in my life and then I would ponder it, day after day for a pre-determined period of time. All the while listening for the music behind the words - the deeper meaning, what God was trying to say to me. For a few years I practiced this form of meditation regularly. Now, meditation is one way that I study the Bible in the mix of a variety of methods I use to keep my study fresh and alive.

Last year I meditated on Romans 12:2 for several days. I read it in various translations and then reflected on it in my journal. Here is an excerpt from one of those ponderings:

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world,

but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

Then you will know what God wants you to do,

and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

(NLT)

Transform = 1. To change markedly in form or appearance, 2. To change the nature, function, or condition of; convert or be converted.

Conform = 1. To make or become similar. 2. To act or be in agreement; comply. 3. To act in accordance with customs or rules.

Copy = 1. An imitation or reproduction of something original; duplicate.

God calls us to be different from the world around us. He calls us to conform not to the customs and behaviors of this world, but instead to take on the attitude of Christ and to live according to Kingdom principles. We are to be like Christ rather than the world around us.

What does that look like in practicality? The Amish separate themselves in the way they dress, their use of vehicles and electricity. Others avoid jewelry and celebrations. What does this look like for me? What does this look like for women I influence and teach, how do I explain this? Some avoid make-up or modern clothing . . . . I sense that this is more about the inner person that finds expression in outer behaviors than it is about following a rigid set of rules. 

How do you include meditating on Scripture into your daily life? 

What are some things you have learned meditating on the Bible?

I Met a Man

Today I met a man who changed my life.

For twelve years, I have visited physician after physician. I believe I have seen every physician in this whole district and no one could help me . . . no one! My money is nearly all spent and I am considered unclean. All I touch is unclean. I am even restricted in where I can go, who I can touch, and how I interact with my family and friends. I have lived this way for twelve years and I was desperate for help, desperate for healing.

I have heard of a new teacher, a new rabbi who travels around Galilee and heals people. I was so desperate! I heard he was near my village so I went to where he was, hoping he might help me. I thought surely if I could only touch his robe . . . he is so powerful . . . just touching his robe would be enough.

The crowd was thick around him, like a flock of sheep gathering around a feeding trough. People were pressing close to him and jostling him on every side. How could I get close enough to merely touch the edge of his robe? I pushed my way through the crowd, getting more than a few angry looks, but I didn't care. I NEEDED to touch his robe. I had tried everything else and I needed this man to heal me . . . so very desperate.

At last I was close to him, just a couple of people stood between us. So close. I pushed ahead, heedless of the people in my path, and I reached out and I made it. I touched his robe, only the fringe, but it was enough. As soon as I felt the soft tickle of the fringe on my fingertips, I felt his healing power flow through me. I felt the blood stop flowing. Never for an instant did I mean to interrupt him. After all he was hurrying to an emergency. A young girl had died and he was on his way to help. I touched him so lightly, the fringe, only the fringe and from the back. I thought he would not know. But he did know.

He stopped. He asked who touched him. His disciples made fun of him a little because so many people were jostling him from every side, but he insisted and then he looked straight at me. I knew that he knew I was the one, so I admitted I had touched him. He looked me in the eye with such love and compassion as I have never seen before and said, "Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well."

I met Jesus today and my life has been changed.

_____________________________________

Recently I have been preparing for a workshop that I will be teaching at my church's annual women's conference and I have been experimenting with different types of journaling as well as different ways of studying the Bible. This post is the outcome of one of those experiments and is based on the story of "The Woman with an Issue of Blood" found in Matthew 9 and Luke 8.

I would love to hear about your journaling experiences and/or things you do to keep your Bible study times fresh.